Kehena beach question

[rocketman]

New guy here, long time lurker. Wife and I will be there in March for a week and have an opportunity to rent a house almost overlooking Kehena beach. Looking for some comments from you guys about the area as I've heard it's a "less than desirable" place to stay. (break-ins, fights and such. Hey, I read it on the internet...Must be true).Tell me I'm wrong, it looks like a great house.
Wife and I were there in Oct. 06, stayed oceanfront in HPP (Nice earthquake and monsoon!) and can't wait to get back.
Thanks
Ed

[rusty h]

its a very pretty laid back area. down falls would be it a little ways away from hilo or pahoa for food etc... if you buy your food and stuff before you get to the house right on. if you dont mind driving to eat right on. I was going to stay in the area but ended up at a B&B in HPP. I really liked the location of HPP for reaching other parts of the island. It comes down to what you want to do while in Puna. Dinner in Pohoa and a drive to Kehena can be a little long especially in the dark. To each his own really.
Peace

[Devany]

Ed,

We love that area. Our first trip to Hawaii we rented a house overlooking Kehena (www.haleballeja.com ). We felt very safe and rented the house several times before deciding to move to Hawaii ourselves. The house is filled with art and nicely furnished. We have since become friends with the owners from Chicago.

We did avoid Kehena Beach on the weekends, as it gets a little rowdy then, but other than that it was a spectacular place to play on weekdays. The hike up and down is not for anyone physically impared though and there are no restrooms there. It is a special place to us.

One note, if you want internet access many homes in that area have it now. Hale Balleja does and they have a land line you can use too. Our cell phones (ATT) did not work there. We had to get close to Pahoa to get them to work.

It is a bit of a drive for groceries and restaurants, but not bad 20 minutes.

We felt very safe there, slept with windows and sliders open etc. There can be breakins everywhere. There have been a rash of them in HPP lately, with crooks even breaking in while tourists were sleeping and stole thier wallets and cameras. Lower Puna is not what I would call dangerous at all, you just have to be smart about what you do. It is one of our favorite places to visit. We ended up buying a house in Hilo, but it had nothing to do with crime statistics.

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any specific questions.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.travelingfork.blogspot.com

[Greg]

Relax and enjoy the sunrise, whales and dolphins. It's only crowded on weekends, and even that can be a spectacle.

[Guest]

Rocketman -

I think were all forgetting about the real thing he needs to worry about which is attempting to swim at Kehena.

I'm a fairly experienced swimmer and would never swim there.

Last week someone died there... nuff said.

Best of luck.

[Devany]

You are right Damon. We only go out there when it is really calm. There is a very fast drop off about 5' off shore and the waves crash in about 1' of water... and it is not soft sand. Body surfers beware! However, on really calm days it is a great place to swim and snorkel farther out.

However, there are lots of other great places to swim... Champagne Pond,Kapoho Tide Pools and Ahalanui. Kapoho is one of our favorites.

Aloha au i Hawai`i,
devany

Devany Vickery-Davidson
East Bay Potters
www.eastbaypotters.com
www.myhawaiianhome.blogspot.com
www.travelingfork.blogspot.com

[TheodoreJay]

I agree, Rocketman worry more about good weather & if you are not a good swimmer stay out of the water at Kehena. Mostly you will run in to a few transients & kids selling there stash plus very crowded on a weekends. My one week long stay close to Kehena in a beach house was quite pleasant (not much noise, no intrusions).
Big advantage to just grab a towel and walk to the beach every morning vs. loading up the car and worry about it getting scratched in the parking lot. Malama Mart near Pahoa good for groceries and a couple of good restaurants there. So if you already like the area, chances are you'll be just fine.

[rocketman]

Thanks for all the replies. Found a oceanfront house in Hawaiian Beaches we liked better so we will be there in March for my birthday. Can't wait!!
Ed